Invictus

Contents

History

Origin

Invictus was an ancient cosmic angelic being who existed millions of years ago as a member of a race of such individuals that became known as the Angels of Vega. Eons ago, their number safeguarded the worlds within the Vega System which was a duty that they gladly fulfilled in order to make it a shining beacon in the darkness of space. In this time, he and his comrades guarded the worlds of Maltus, Okaara, Euphorix and Tamaran. All these worlds were taught to embrace the light of the angels and they in turn bent in worship of the angels. Only the stone denizens of Changralyn did not need this enlightenment as they were the kindest as well as most peaceful beings known. In this time, Invictus had them form what he called the Council of Virtue in order to spread their teachings to the stars with Vega's future being deemed bright in this time. This changed, however, upon an encounter between the angels and Larfleeze who was master of the Ophidian Entity. Known to the angels as the Beast, Agent Orange intended to slay the angels and make one of them a member of his Orange Lantern Corps after absorbing their essence. However, each angel slain instead had their life energy pass to their brethren thus cheating the Beast of his prize. Despite numerous attempts at claiming an angel, their souls always evaded Agent Orange who thus decided to kill what he could not possess. The only survivor was the archangel Invictus who was empowered by his slain brethren and used the power of his fallen angels to battle the Beast. The two battled and in the confrontation, Invictus used his power to create a veil between this universe to the next one. His intention was to imprison Larfleeze in the next universe thus banishing the Beast from paradise.

At this point, he was attacked by Orange Lantern Energy Constructs whereupon Invictus learnt that the Beast had his Corps slay the Council of Virtue. Seeing Vega's future murdered, the archangel's resolve faltered which was enough for the Beast to push Invictus into the veil and trapping Invictus in the next universe. The struggle with the Orange Lanterns saw his wings being ripped and he was mutilated where he plunged into the unknown with the only thing keeping him alive was his hatred of the Beast. For millions of years, he resided in the next universe where he plotted his divine righteous vengeance. Whilst in the other dimension, he strip mined worlds to create a great world ship known as The Orrery that contained exact replicas of the Vega System. In addition, he populated the worlds with beings genetically modified to resemble his beloved Vegan charges. All these inhabitants worshiped Invictus as their protector and were taught to fear the Beast with statues present which represented the two of them. Eventually, he emerged within his home universe by travelling through the black hole in the Galactic Core with the intention of slaying the Beast whilst eliminating the Vega System which he would replace with the Orrery worlds.

Rage of Angels

The arrival of the Orrery led to the New Guardians being dispatched to the worldship in order to investigate it as they believed it to be responsible for the theft of their respective Corps Power Rings. At this time, Invictus slept within the sun at the centre of the Orrery until the horn was made that summoned him to deal with the intruders. He first emerged from the statue where he confronted Munk and Fatality where he called the pair sinners. The Archangel told them that he was the light and he could sense the darkness of past misdeeds within the two Lanterns. Seeing their Power Rings, he stated that it had been a billion years since he had seen their like and that the Beast had sent the two to confront Invictus. He informed Fatality that his children in Orrery knew him as an angel and attacked only for Munk to teleport the Star Sapphire away. Invictus later teleported into another statue on another world's temple where he battled Arkillo along with Saint Walker. He easily overpowered the Sinestro Corpsmen and was angered when Arkillo had destroyed the temple which his children had built as well as sung in his name. He overpowered Arkillo in a blast of energy and stated that all things feared the light. At that point, the Green LanternKyle Rayner used an Energy Construct in the form of a ship to land on Invictus. The Archangel, however, knocked him aside and stated that good always vanquished evil whereupon he turned his attention to Glomulus.

To save his comrade, Saint Walker used his Blue Lantern Power Ring to heal Invictus but was shocked to see it had no effect. The Archangel claimed that it was because there was nothing to heal as he had a righteous cause and that nothing could save the New Guardians from the rage of the angels. Afterwards, he recounted his origin to the New Guardians and his enimity with the Beast who was also known as Larfleeze. He also revealed his intention of destroying the Vega System as it had become corrupted since last he had seen it and wanted it replace with the worlds of the Orrery. When Rayner asked him why he attempted to steal their Power Rings, Invictus revealed that he had no part in the attempt as he lacked the means of separating the device from their users. This led the to learn that Agent Orange had tricked the New Guardians and had sent them to eliminate Invictus on his behalf. Kyle Rayner attempted to calmly speak with Invictus that his course of action was wrong to which the Archangel relented in his attack. However, he was attacked by Bleez thus leading Invictus to believe that Rayner was stalling for the arrival of the Red Lantern. He managed to overpower the New Guardians once more but Kyle Rayner once more attempted to appeal to the Archangel.

Invictus ultimately decided to cease his attack after seeing the competing New Guardians working together. He stated that Rayner's words were compelling but he needed them to be backed by action. Thus, the Archangel agreed to allow the New Guardians to leave alive only on the condition that the Green Lantern eliminated Agent Orange. In the mean time, Invictus used his Orrery to enter into the Vega System where he destroyed one of the worlds and replaced it with his duplicate which he detached from vessel. Following this point, he directed his world craft to Okaara where he intended to strike directly against Larfleeze. Upon nearing the world, he deployed one his statues to the surface and used it as a portal to manifest on the planet. Once there, he began fighting not only Larfleeze and Sayd but also the New Guardians who rallied under Kyle Rayner to stop the Angel of Vega. However, Invictus managed to effortlessly defeat all his foes though the New Guardians were using the fight as a distraction to allow Munk to teleport The Weaponer onto The Orrery to commandeer it. The Qwardian managed to override The Orrery and take it under his own control where he departed the scene after betraying Munk. With his starship leaving, Invictus was deprived of his power source and attempted to chase after it but was held back by the New Guardians. After The Orrery left the System, Invictus's energy departed him and he was transformed into a statue whilst at the mercy of Larfleeze. Upon being defeated, his statue-like corpse was retained by Agent Orange in the Forbidden Forest of Weeds on Okaara.

Powers and Abilities

Portal Statues : Invictus had special statues that were made in his image and through which he could manifest and teleport at the site. Thus, he was able to teleport to any location with one of the statues which he used to invade worlds by shooting one of these facsimiles to the surface of a world.